A bigger challenge: types of perceived corporate hypocrisy in employees and their resulting attitudes and turnover intentions

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to investigate the comparative impacts of the four salient aspects of employees' perceived corporate hypocrisy (PCH), namely PCH based on psychological contract breach (CB), perceived lack of morality (MOR), double standards (DS) and word–action gap (WA), on employees' turnover intentions and attitudes towards corporations.Design/methodology/approachA self-reported online survey was designed to collect data from 520 retail employees using Qualtrics.FindingsPCH-MOR had the most detrimental effect on employees' attitudes and turnover intentions compared to other PCH types. PCH-DS had the second highest negative impact on employees' attitudes, whereas PCH-WA was the second highest predictor of turnover intentions. Employees' negative responses were more concerning for PCH attributed to organizational aspects than the personnel aspects of corporations. PCH-CB was observed to have no significant impact on employees.Practical implicationsThe study generated a deeper understanding of the multi-faceted PCH. It identified the types of PCH that need to be prioritized to guide corporations in attributing the correct areas of concern and determining the scopes of management.Originality/valueWhile prior research conceptualized employees' PCH as a single-dimensional construct, this study is the first to acknowledge its multi-faceted nature. Although a few studies theoretically proposed its salient aspects, this study presented empirical evidence of this framework, comparing their varied impacts on employees. Contrary to the dominant notion of characterizing PCH as WA, this research presented evidence that employees' PCH characterized by a perceived lack of morality was more worrisome. This study presented empirical evidence for the organizational and individual levels of PCH, noting PCH attributed to organizational aspects as a bigger concern.